- Says Obi “jointly with his erstwhile colleague of the PDP donated the outcome (of the presidential election) even before the voting.”
Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, on Saturday doubled-down oh his position on the outcome of the February 25, 2023 Presidential election, insisting that Peter Obi of the Labour Party and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) did not win.
Professor Soyinka stated that Obi “jointly with his erstwhile colleague of the PDP donated the outcome (of the presidential election) even before the voting.”
Soyinka, had earlier spoken at an event on Wednesday in Stellenbosch, South Africa titled: ‘The Lives of Wole Soyinka – A Dialogue’ organised by Africa in the World, accusing the leadership of LP of trying to force “a lie” on Nigerians, especially youths, when they knew that Obi lost the February 25 election.
The event started on Tuesday, September 12 and was scheduled to end on Saturday, September 16, 2023.
“I can say categorically that Peter Obi’s party came third not even second and the leadership knew it but they want to do what we call in Yoruba ‘gbajue’, that is force of lies.”
Soyinka also alleged that the LP leadership attempted to mobilise young people to protest against the outcome of the election on the “banner of lies and deceit. They were going to send some of the hardliners, proud young people into the street to demonstrate.”
Facing barrage of push-back from Nigerians especially the youths and Obidients, Soyinka issued a statement on Saturday titled “The Cape Town Re-Entry,” reiterating his stance that Peter Obi and Atiku did not win the Presidential election.
According to Soyinka: “The mistake we all continue to make is our insistence on regarding the recent Nigerian elections as an adversarial thriller. The contrary is the truth. The ballot tally accurately reflected what happens when a political party splits itself in two, especially so critically close to an election. What promised to be a spectacular contest is transformed into a Feast of Voluntary Donation of the spoils of war.
“That, however, is not always the ultimate destination – the re-gifting may continue, prodded by a sudden surge of regret. There remains, lurking in the background, a far more potent beneficiary. In this case, we easily recall it as the unregistered but loudly canvassed IPP – the Interim Peoples Party, usually to be found in bed with the military.
“The notorious Datti interview, menacing, intimidating and unambiguous, sets the scene for such re-entry. Then, history repeats itself over and over again, as currently manifested along the West African sub-region. The “call to arms” is made literal by those whose trade is precisely that of arms.
“Barring such abrupt “patriotic intervention”, however, the last word belongs to the Supreme Court. Until that conclusive hour, wherever and whenever the subject turns to the Nigerian elections, my contribution can be taken for granted in advance: Peter `Obi did not win the Nigerian 2023 elections. Jointly with his erstwhile colleague of the PDP, Abubakar Atiku, they donated the outcome, even before the voting.
“Let politicians and their cohorts learn to take responsibility for the consequences of their choices within democratic options.”